More than 20 years since the
first cases were reported in the United States, AIDS is no longer
an automatic death sentence. Still, with everything that’s
been written and said through the years, new HIV cases continue
to be reported. Some 40,000 people of all genders, ages and ethnicities
will be infected next year. The face of this disease has changed.
— AIDS Foundation Houston, Inc.
It is estimated that one out of
90 people in Houston is HIV positive. Since this deadly infection
developed, more than 20,000 Houstonians have been diagnosed with
AIDS, and 60 percent of them have died. Early in the epidemic, the
disease was most apparent in the gay community, but today more than
half of new infections occur in African-American men, women and
children.
Unlike other illnesses, such as cancer or diabetes, AIDS is an infectious
disease that is transmitted from one person to another. Currently,
there is no cure. However, within the past half dozen years, new
drug therapies have prolonged and improved life for people with
HIV/AIDS, and service agencies have turned their attention from
primarily preparing people for death to providing health care, housing
and education, and conducting research to find a cure.
To educate the community and improve life for people with HIV/AIDS,
Houston Endowment has supported:
. AIDS
Foundation Houston, Inc.
. AIDS
Housing Coalition Houston AHCH
. AIDS
Research Consortium of Houston
. The
Assistance Fund
.
A Caring Safe Place, Inc.
. Donald
R. Watkins Memorial Foundation Inc.
. The
Houston Challenge Foundation
. Montrose
Clinic, Inc.
. Montrose
Counseling Center, Inc.
. People
with AIDS Coalition Houston Inc.
. Steven’s
House
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